I'm watching him practising duelling spells in the dungeon halls. Harry has already regained all his lost power, all he had learned in his almost seven years at Hogwarts. He's even doing wandless magic like before. He's exceptionally good at this, perhaps better than me - and I'm really good, honestly. However, there's only one way of testing whether he's ready for a real combat.
"I challenge you to a duel, Mr. Potter."
He stops and looks at me, suspicious. I lead him to an empty classroom in the dungeons.
We bow to each other, raise our wands and count.
"One, two, three..."
"Labefacto!" I cry.
If my spell had hit him, he would have simply collapsed, becoming too weak for standing up. He dodges, though, and cast an "Obdormio" at me, trying to make me sleepy. How silly. I manage to dodge it too. Then, at the same time, we cry "Expeliarmus". Our spells meet in midair and ricochets off at angles.
During more than five minutes we went on, both of us unable to hit each other. Then I shout:
"Crucio!"
He stops, astonished, and forgets to dodge. He can't believe I've cast an Unforgivable at him. Implacable, I cry:
"Petrificus Totalus," paralysing him.
I approach him and shout:
"Finite Incantatum!"
He pounces on me, his fists clenched, and begins to punch me!
"You nasty, sadistic, treacherous, cowardly creep!" he cries.
"Hey! I haven't cast an Unforgivable at you. I've only cried 'Crucio', but I haven't really cast the spell."
"I know that, but you've cheated anyway! Tabesco!" he cries, transforming me into an amorphous mass piled up on the ground.
Next thing I hear is his "Finite Incantatum". I try to muster what is left of my dignity and get up, furious and humiliated.
"Well, well! It seems that Harry is new and ready to kick again!"
I lift my head and see the twinkling eyes of Albus Dumbledore, my Headmaster and friend.
"Headmaster," I say.
"I'm glad that Harry is well. As it is, he will be able to return to Grimmauld Place with me tomorrow! You must be looking forward to see your friends again, aren't you, Harry?"
My stomach lurches, my skin crawls, my breath catches instantly. Harry looks at me, and his eyes seem to reflect the panic that chills my soul.
"Severus," Albus says, "come to my office after dinner. We need to talk."
TBC...
Author's Notes:
The end is near, heehee. Next chapter will be the last with Sev's PoV and the
ending of Part 2.
I am posting "Hurt & Comfort" on my site too, but I update here
first. If you want to download the story, perhaps it's better to wait that each
part is completed and copy it from my site, where there will be only three files
and not twenty (or twenty-one? I haven't decided yet).
Replies to Reviews:
Nymphadora Tonks1: Oh, you're a perv! You'll like next chapter too. But... will
they manage to stay together? Dun dun dun dun. Thank you for helping me with
my macaronic English. Yeah, I know, WTF is "macaronic"? [Macaronic:
1. heap of thing confused mixed together; jumble; 2. a kind of burlesque composition,
in which the vernacular words of one or more modern languages are intermixed
with genuine Latin words.]
Sally-Jo: Oh, I envy those slashers of the good ol' times! Thank you! The rating boundaries are too vague. The criteria should be clearer.
Fuzzy-Bumpkins: Yes, just my thoughts: they say R is "unsuitable for those under 17", and I think people above this age has, or should have, the necessary maturity for this story. After all, I'm writing a love story, it's not non-con, incest fic, chan or BDSM. Thank you!
sev1970: Thank you, darling! Mine is a relatively short story, so I can't make them wait as long as I should, but I try not to be rash. Yours and Mandi's "Rescued Hearts" is a wonderful model for me.
jamie: Thank you! Yeah, I hope Blanche replies my e-mail.
Faerie Fighter: Hey, you're a perv too! But don't worry, we are all pervs!!!
Anarane Anwamane: Oh, thanks. Now it's time to ask you: will we have a happy ending or not???
Kristen, Kati, and Heather Snape: Thank you!
dj-percy-malfoy: Don't worry, I've already written the ending! Mwahahahahha! Thank you, you're so sweet!
LeeLeePotter: LeeLee! I'm flattered to have such an illustrious reader! Snarky Snape is so funny to write! I think I'll miss him.